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EA 010 767

Welsh, Ralph S.Delinquency, Corporal Punishment, and the Schools.National Council On Crime and Delinquency,

k. Hackensack, N.J. MI/Gate Resource Center.pdpartment of Health, Education, and-Welfare,'Washington, D. C.Feb 78 .

49p.; Chapter 39 of "Theoretical Perspectives onSchool Crime, Volume IN; For other paperiin thisvolume, see EA 010 729-768 ; Not available in hardcopy cite to print quality

.10-$0.83 Plus Postage. RC Not Available fro' EDRS.'DESCRIPTORr *Behavior Theories; Child Abuse; *Corporal

Punishment; *Delinquent Behavior; *Discipline Policy;Educational HiWtory; Elementary Secondary Education;*Parent Child Relationships School Responsibility;.*School andaltsm; Student Teacher Relationship;Teacher Education; Violence

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ABSTRACTOne of 52 theloretical papers 'on 'school crime and its

relationlio poverty, this chapter reports that there growingtrend in this country to blase youth crime on parentaloverp,rmiksiveness. Available data fail to support this and show thatall types of crime, including school crime, develovvithin faiiliesand school 'iystess emphasizing aversive and athoritarian disciplinetechniques. Also, racism and personal injustice. are more common in an -authoritarian atmosphere. Of all types of aversive behavior control,corporal. punishment appears most apt to induce-aggression. -A theoryrelating delinquent egression to the severity of :parental discipline

ou4-.,'and it is suggested that-a national*effort be made .

to disdourage the use of corporal punishment as a socially acceptablechild- rearing technique. Since corporal punishment tends to produceboth fear and auger, its continued use in the school can only becounterproductive to the learning process. A joint effort qhould bemade to train teachers in nonavorsive but- effective techniques ofpupil control. In addition, individual teachers need the support ofwell-trained guidance personnel who tire Willing to enter hoses and.work with the behavioral problems at their source. (Author/ULF)

*********************************************************************4* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made ** ', from the original document. **********************************,************************* *********** .i

I

a. N. .

- U S DIOAIMAIINT OF NAALTN.

NATIONALIDUCATVI.WIL,A111

STiTuTe OPEDUCATION ..

THIS DOCUME4T HAS °few NsoN0DuCE0 exACTLV AS NECAiue° 4AMTHE IIERSON ONONDANIZATNA ORIGIN.- *Tufa cf POINTS or ler w OA OPINIONS

... STATE* 00 NOT NEC SSARN.V sentSENT or , tCiAL MAIM AL INSTITUTE 0,EDUCATION POSITION 0* POLICY

DELLIQUMICY, CORPORAL PUNISEHENT,

AND TEE $CROOLS

.

iViMLIBLE

0Diplomate in ainica1Peychology

A paper from"Theoretical. Perspectives on School Crime"

Submitted to . "DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCAtION, AND WELFARE

February 1978

Submitted by-NATIONAL COUNCIL ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY

Hackensack; N.J.

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There is a growing trend in this country to blame youthcrime on parental vverpeisissiveness. Availible datafail to support this and show that all types of.crima,

.includinTschool. crimp, d'evel'op within families and. school------zsystems-emphas4.4-ing-taversixte-andvsupharitaxi d 4 line

techniques.-.Alsof racism and personal injustice ar, martcommad.idan authotitarian atmosphere . Of all types of -,.aversive behavioral control, corporal pudishment appears

-most apt to. induce aggression.' A.tieory.relating deli dquentaggreision to the severity of paiental discipline.iisketched out, and- it is sliggkste4.that a national. tfort be

. made to discourage Ohe use of corporal punishment as asocially acceptablethild-rearing. technique.-Since,corporal punishment tends to .produce both fear and .anger,its continued use in the schools,can oply.be counteipro-

- ductive-to the leatning process.' Tortunetbly,.msny.whostzongly advocate corporal punishmedt in tfie plassrposhave expressed a willingness-to.forgo its useNif more.teachers and staff 'could be trained_ in alternative methods-.

* -of effectively handling the -troublesome pupil, Therefore,"a joint effort should be made thoroughly to train teachers

non - aversive but effective techniques of-pugl control.Zn,addition, individual teachers need the support of well-.ttained guidance personnel who are willing to enter homesadd work with the behavioral problemd.at their source.

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Introduction

:

School vandalism now costs'out nation 5000million -

-0,-. .

dollars a year. incidents of violence are .also on the .

_(..

e schtida747--The-tINe of-Na-w-Yark-Citi-ihop teacher*

.. Daxid Korbin, who lost six teeth and.had-his.jaw broken- by

.*

a burly 15 'year -old student'OEand, 1975)., is not atypical. '

.Many solution* to.the problem are being offered,. but

)the predominant theme appears to be'a call-for-a return. to_. .

"that old-fshioned discipline."' Symptomatic"-of+dhis con-, ,.. ..

toi servative tr d in education is the "back-to-basics' move-)4 41

meat; which. many people have linked with "!..forced patriotism,. d

8 : Ipaddling, preaching and puritanism",(Egerton, 1976): Artic-

.

misting this attitude,. a Black construction Worker-told a

"0New iork'Daily-Net4s reporter, "When I was a Ical and got

. puniihed at schotil, I gOt punishes again when rot home.

,;

The teacher-was alwayiright, and you'd beiter believe it:.."\

(Hand, 1975, p. 48). %This angry parent concluded that too.;.

many, chifdran don't oliey.. their :teachers or .their -parents. -1

beCause they.tailed. to receive the needed discipline.

Although-The-New-York Times `has 4ditorialized:that "To blame

parentalipermisaivenessforyschookiriol ce is. too easy"

("Violent Schools," 1975.,.p. ;8), it. does nit dispute this

feeling that .parental overpermissivenesi may well contribute"

to the problem. When two young boys caused $50,000 damage,

to a schooi,in a quiet, upper middle-class' suburb of New .

. .

York City, the an ry'tbwnspeople blamed it on "the permissivee

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attitudes of the schools, ' the lenienCY of'the courts,.

the *'sparing' of the rod*',(raber, 1975) ...

.

ltd

Peihaps the rhetoric otoverpermissivepess is *not to

. ,

surprising coming from religious flindamigitalists (Schroeder,

1974), but-it.thay well be a matter df.concern when the larger

public begins to espouse this theory. There is a growingL

fear of crime in the United States, and personal crimes

:tend to'lrighten people more thau'others, even though the

risk of personal injury that we run each day frbm other

sources.is enopoodsly greater-Orooks, 1914) :*-1t--would-----

.seem that this fear, due in part to'the sensationalizing

of crime bit the media,has resulted La a revetsion- -

growing antipermissiveneis bias'(see Welsh, 1976c).

During the as and 50.3 the progressive e3ucatibn move-

menlof on Dewey and the almost venerated book On child-.

o'care by Dr. Sinjamin_Spook (1945)"exerted.griat influence:,

La'some.strata of society. The actual impact on child-

rearing attitudes and on education, however, was probably

During the mid-50s, Doctor

Goodwinifttson (1957) set out to comparet6e behavior of

50 elementary school children from 'strict!' ball; -class

biomes with that of 50 children from "permissive" middle-.

more iliusion than substance.

class homes.. An attempt was made to select- children from'

homes that were judgdd to.be "good" by community standards..

To Watsim's dismay, he was able to fLiOronly 34children.

from "fairly permissive notes' and none .from "extreMely.

permissive-homes."

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:Whdn this group, was compaxed to147 children from "stiici

- -baiaelf".the behavior ratings and psychological ,test data.-fav9red the permissively rai sed children. They tended,td:

4 Ow.

be,more independent and more inclined to display initiative

,than did the strictly. raised childres and were mote%..

:socialized .and cooperative,more able to 'persist in 'the.

fate of fruitration, tore inclined to express positive,

feelings toward others, and Less inclined to express hos-,

tility. They were More likely to be highly.oreaiive,

imaginative, spontaneous, and original in their thinking"

and general: behavior. Earlier, Eadke (190), who' studied

nurse;y- and kindergarten-age children_from permissive 'axedt

fit= strict homes,had come to a similar conclusion.

In spite of little experimental support for the,

an*ipermisiiveness position, strong attacki4agastSpook.'s

generally propermissiveness 'stand stated to appear, m the./

childcare literature. The embattled Doctoikspook,tciak, a/

. much tougher line in his latest book (Spook, 1974). Per

massiveness hfs.now become a had wern.,--and people are

.becoming incieas4gla less permissive in their attitudes.

In 1965, 38 percent of those interviewed in a LewisEarris `

poll favbred the deith penalty, abut, by L977, 67 percent. /

-1Steilleere(lb64) and*Torrance (L963) show Creativity tobe eAsentiall:y the opposite of authoritarianism; andcreative individials to function best in free, openenvironments.

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,supitoxted'it.2 Among respondents i a 1968 Lewis Barris

boll onchild discipline, 86 percent. agreed that the primary

need(ei young people is'strong discipline from their parents,4.1

84 percent approved of spanking childxen, 49 percent

approved-of a schoolteacher hitting a student, and 9 percent1,

..Ten approved of a-parent beating his or her child. Con-

trary to popular opinion, American parents are not permissive. 6

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They probably never, have been, and if anything they ire.

becomiiig-ieis so.'

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With ths hard-:liners gaining momentum, the Gr. S.

Supreme Court's October,1915,and 1977-deciiions to allow., / '.

,s,.

corporal punishment in the schools snould not'have been,

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unexpected. Even though the National EducatiOn Association's -, -

Task Force on Corporal Punishment in Schools (NBA Task Force,

1972). had-voted to phase out corporal punishment:in the

2Gary Gilmore, the.first.perion to be executed in the unitedStates following.a 3.0-year moratorium on capital)pmaishhent,said just =before his death:

...I could never understand.why.my father seemed tohate me. I just endured his beatings.: Sometimes Iwanted to kill him, and the 'first bate 1 felt wastoward him. (Garrett, 1977)

BiA.aunt, Ida Damico, recalled:

Gary had a sad childhood. Bessie was quite mean,always beating and slapping him. Gary's father, Frankswas even meaner when he was drunk. (Eight Women, 1977)

. During theccurse of counseling 20 violent prisoners in San'Quentin, Hobart Batiks sound that every single one had beenthe victim of a severely punitive childhood (see Maurer,1975a). Extensive news coyerage indicates that all of Lemajor, assassins and would-be assassins of the pt 15 yearssuffered similar backgrounds.

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schools over.a one-yeir period; beginiing in 1972, the '.' / 4

,doult reasoned in 1975 that to outlaw corporal punishment-

nbuakta settled tradition of countenancing, such punishment

when teasanggii." .ta April, 1977,"they jolted the clinical

community by ruling that a schoolchild isant3E-WEEL-Eri to

the same protections ifforlpd criminals undei the Eighth "1 1-

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Amendment, suggesting that any redress indicated was obtain-..

.

ableAinder existing laws. With the prettige of the highekt

court in the-land behind:school spankings, and with.the

climate of the community swinging toward the support of%. .

hard-line approaches to discipline.; the NEI hat.little

chance.of.changing the "settled tradition-Lpf hitting chiidrinn1

in the schools in the near future, especiallv,n w that

Cohn Ryor, this year's president of the NEA, has out;Di'

. . III'publicly InsUpport o'f:school corporal punishment (Prom

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and Con, 1977).

,Our Anglo-American Heritage:

The-Student Must be ?logged

As Lloyd deMause(1974) points'out, "The histOry of.

childhood is a nightmare from which we have just begun to,

awaken " (p. 1). In ancient dieece, the schoolmaster used. .

the birch rod as a means-of correction. -Homer was flogled,

as was Horace (Scott, 1938, p. 9S), and John Milton's wife,

complained that she hated to heat the cries' bf his nephews

at he beat them. Beethoven whipped his pupg.s. with a

knitting needle, and Louis A= was whipped upon awakehinT 0,

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for the previous aiy's%tzanegressiogi (deMause, 1975)., .

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* -The practice of whipping childrem in the Koine and at,

, *

school is fiequently justified by Solomon's dicta "Re

"that'spareth the.roe, hateth hit son; but he that loves

h11,.._chastilses-him-betimesr"..--aniihhold,liob-loorrection

from the chil4; for, if thou b'eatest him with the rod, he

shall not die.," The latter, unfortunately, is not always

true, as thOse of'us who work with child- abusing' parents

know. Western schools, iarticulaily those Of the 19th

century, have a historj of remarkable brutality. One

. 19-century Germanischoolmaster'estimated that he had given

,911,527 strokes stick, A24,000 lashes with a whip;

136,715 slaps with the hand, and1,115,800 boxes on the ears

(deMause, 1974, p: 41). The situation was notmuch itetter

in England. At Etod.,' where the whippi0t, were unusually

severe', each.Omy's bill included a half-guinea charge. for

birch, whether the boy was floggud7 15 nOt (S.cott,

100). Even, though England has made some progress in recent*

, .

?oars, when more thah 200 students in one of the180 sohoolg

mr.44

in Newcastle-Upon4Tyne rioted, a committee of teachers,

community leaders, And the headmaster decided to deal with

the problem by making the "standards-trap" wider; longer,

and heavier, and to use A on girls as well'as on bt:;ys. The

East attempt ban corporal punishment in the English

schools was in :972,' during the Conservative governmedt,

<; but, it went nowhere (Coffey, 1976).

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The students' lot was not measurably happier in the

United States and its 'territories. Tt:e Nit; England Primer lip

echoed the English trad.ition of school floggin4i!with the. ,.

. .following:

The-Idle Fool %.

Is Whipt at school

Job feels the .3toCt, Yet blesses GOD

I

The "settled tradition" the Supraie Court Zusilices.

were speaking about when they made their 'infamous 1975.. .

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. school ipanking.ruling is well documented in children's,

literature. Lauta Ingalls Wilder, authoi of theaLittleki.

Souse on the Prairie series, tells us :11937) what it was

like in the Dakota Territorial schools of the late 1900s: : '...

Laura did not know until late; 'thdt, the ruler wasto punish anyone ight fidgeted or whispered in =school. Anyone who was so nLughty had to walk upto Teacher's dedk and hold out her hand whileTeacher slapped it -many times, hard, with'the

(p. 151).

Lois Lenski, who grew up in the Plorida:"cracker"4

tl) ,country in the early 1900s, tells. us 'that thing4 could get

a little rough at times in the country classroom. Lenski

describes a confrontation between two roughneckd and 44

stick - wielding teacher. The teacher told the boys,

do as, I mkt!" and, as he raised alpamboo stick, books and

- slates went flying throu4h the air, and 'the arms and legs

of the teacher and the boys h...became'so mixed up, it was

impossible to tell Which waswhich.% The teacher was sub-

sequently "beat up to jelly," by these two young toughi,

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and the child*en were cut of school for many weeksthat

year (1945, pp. .34-38"

Mark Twain, whose writings frequently mention the

beatings he. received in:school, also seems to have harboied. .

a .desire to get even: Unlike Lenski's young toughs,'TOin -v.

Sawyer. (1675 Y and his friends shoired more creativity by . . .

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commihsiorting the sign paintei's son to guild the hated

sohbolimaster's bald head while he dozed. Twain writes:. .. ,.

. . . ..

Mr. Dobbin's lashiigs were very vigordas ones.../He seemed to take a. vindictive pleasure is punish-ing the least-shortcomings. The consequence was,that.tht.smaller.boys spent their days in terrorend-suffering and theit nights in plotting-revenge.They threw away no opportunity to dd'Omhe master amischief. (p. 169) ..1 .

With the availability of haildguns in the 20rth century,. .

the situation has become more dangerous. One of sty own

:

patients,. a 27-year..old dropout who, left school becauie he refused. . . .

apaddling, described one of his teachers idSpartenburg, '

South Carolina. All of the children feared &hid hatedehim

bedause "he'd whip ydll even if you'didn't bring

homework.in. tEe'dmade this thing with a thick

your

Strap with

a stick tied to it, and people hated that rttap.,

some kids pent-him up and put hip in the'hospiial.-2.and I

guess it was probably, for the whippings. Alter that,Ahe.

brought a gun to school." Another, of my patients remembers

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tier fattier heading out the- door with a loatied.shotgun,.fully.

intending to blow of the head of a kindergarten teacher wfio

.4. had dislodged a burn scab on my patient with a paddle. thea,

man was subdued' by school officials.

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In a 1975 incident reported by the Associated Pre4s,

Lester Wilson, the assistant prihcipal of an AltintA high 4111.

school, was critically' wounded and paralyzed ;by a-elra-,

wieldinse 15-yeac4old boy; The enraged student shouted,

ou are not going to whip me'anlymore!". just- before the

shooting. 'Some schools have, Indeed, become armed.cas0t,'

with potentially. lethal weapons being stOckpiledoh.both

sides.

Corporal Punishment and Delinquency: .

Ti There 'a Connection?,

EAFly in my clinical career; I was alarmed to discover

the inordinate number of juvenile derinquents whd had been,

exposed to.harsh parental_ treatment during their develop-

mentaa, years). Intrigued, I took, the time' to question my

delinaibent.pitients and their parents tea-Irefully and to

tabulate the information regarding parental punishment

practices. In addition to this first-hand data on delin-

quents,. I -havc, also started- gathering data fro% a variety,

of sources ih the community. TO date I have surveyed PTA

meMberi; adult education students, Laundromat patrOns, and

service, club youths. aSing the information obtained from'1

the ablve studies and supporting data from the literature,.

'

..t have constructed what I call my "belt thiory" of juvenile

delinquency see Welsh, I976a). The belt theory gets its. .

name from my, discovery that the -recidivist mile' delingitept.

' who has never been exposed:to a belt, board, extensioW cord,ii ...

.,

or fist during his developmental years is.)4,rtually nonexistent.

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, One ,extensive study helped to corgrince me that corporal

punidhmint could rot easily be viewed ass a harmless

American tradition, to be tolerated and supported. This

study involvedV consecutive,jtvnile court referrals, S8

%boys and 19 girls. AggressiveneSs level was determined for'

each subjeit from the offense recordi,provided bethe 'juvenile

court, and he or she was placed into 9124 of tiiree categories

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of aggressiveness. Sev ere Parental'iunishment (SPE.' wasl. .

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found to be significantly related to ,delinquent aggression;.

in ,,the boys but not in the girls, aithcigh the trend\Fas.in.

,

the expected direction far the"' female A le. In fact; the..

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only boys among the 58 who were. not realconsidered della-. \'

guene*ere two subjects. who had not been exposed to .SPP.,

. .

Do Blacks Have a Higher Crimeltate

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i.Because They are, Poor?, v

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For some `time, I had been troubled )21 the \fadt.that °-

minority subjects, 'primarily Black males, have liii;t.ently. ..

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higher crime rates

were the'data.cepo

than have whitest Even more dIsturbicg L110*

\rted by Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sel1in 119i3),

crime rites %lox. high-SES, nonwhite1

which found, higher

delinquent Images than for low-SES whites. Since I had

-\suspected that SPP was a better predictor of.aggressivel.

level than was socioeconomic class, the minority,ubjects

3Severe Parental Punishment (SPP) was defined ad any typeof'physical discipline,utilizing a weapon capable of in-flicting-phySical injury. These included belts, boards,extension cords, fists and tine like. They did not includeopen hands, switches and similar things.

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in our sample were compared to the white subjects as to'

severity of discipline. As predicted, more of thd °

minority subjects than of the white subjects were ,found to

have been exposes tb SPP. Our delinquent subjects were,'

then separated ihto to SES levels: those whose parents

were blue-collar workers or in the trades, and those who

- had parents in projessional7managerial fields. The coimpar-

. . *. .. .SPP was related to minroity-group states, but iot to social

...

isou between those subjects who had received SPP and those,

whO hid:received only moderate to mild punishmezit was not

significant. Clearly, within our sample' of.delinquents,

class.

In another study of 132-Laundromat patronst'this

',relationship was quite apparent. We found that more minorill,.------- . -

(Black anfilpuerto Rici4) subjects who had attended cot.2.7e

tour measure.of SES) were willing to use a strap qn an eight-

.4tyear-o.1,5 child than were white ,subjects with no college

training, although minority lubects wha had ome college

background were less physically punitive than were those

who had none. It would appear tha7 the use of the strap on

a child is a cultural phenomenqu which can be attenuated by

higher SES, but not el4

this is why Dr. Spockrs

...minated in one generation. Perhaps4

;ecqiumeudations were admired but,

if Goodson Watson's data is to be believed, not really

followed by,,the majority of parents. It would seem that

parents learn far more about chIld-rearing from their qwh

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parents than they do from child-rearing manuals. My own

clinical data seem to support this (seeWelsh, 1970,.

admit, however, that poverty may well be asignificant

source of fsa tration, driving the poor parent to beat his

or her childrekharder and more often. in fact, it appears

that relative poverty is more crimiftogenic than is abject

poverty (see,, Chester, 1976), as predicted by lonsishon/.

philosopher Eric Hoffer in 1951.

I a study of 100 delinquents and their parents, still

in progress, I ask the parents the Lewis Barris poll question,.

"Do you feel that a parent is ever justified'in beating his-

or her child?* Approximately' 80 percent of my Black and

Puerto Rican subjects and approximately 40 percent of my

white subjects are answering yes; thiatis in,stask.contrast

to the 8 percent of the national sample that answered the

Barris poll in. the afirmative. In the same study, I have

been using the TAT to determine the delinquents' feelings

aboutcorpLral punishment. Itis clear from this Tiorkt.hat"-

fear and anger are produced simultaneously when,a child is

spanked. I fm hypothesizing that the young child/is usually

fearful of, the parent, iut'that, as the child grows older,

anger supplants the fear and-the parent loses control: In

fact, the paradigm is consistent with evidence.of poor

conditionabiliti/ in delinquents and psychopaths. 'This will

be discussed later in this paper.

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\\,Does the Literature Suroort.:.,

oar

the "Belt Theory"?

LearAing'theoristsihave long known that punishment is

a highly complex means of control. In fact, the same pun-

ishment may'act,as &stimulus to accelerate or to retard

performance of the same behavior, depeidi4g upon whether it

is' given in such a way as to produce responses that are. 4.

compatible with or in conflict with the behavior in questionf '

(Fowler & Miller, 1963). In other instances, punishment may

serve no useful purpose because Its inhibitineffacts tend

to wear off

punishment,

(Skinner, 1938). Further, the timing' of the

tha intensity of the,noxiousstimuluse and-the ,

Opportunity for alternative response are1

amohg the host of

conditions strongly affecting the type ofd response the pun- III

ishment will elicit (Solomon, 1964; ChUrch, 1963). Finally,

it has been found t.lat exp.erimentally induced pain can produce

violent aggressive attacks in a wide variety of-species,4

including ,rats, pigeons, and monkeys (Ulrich, 1966; Azrin,

1964).

Although no investigator has been, or would belloolish

enough to investigate the relationship between corporal

punishment and aggressiveness'in children through laboratory

_experiment, there is ample evidence from field studies to ;

indicate that the relationship is a strong one. Sears,

Maccobyland Levin (1957) fo=d that mothers who severely

16- 1506

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loUniihed aggressive behavioil.n their chil drenhad more

aggressive childien than did mothers wholightly-punished

aggressiveness. Eron, Waltder, and Lefkowitz (1911)!ound .0

that'schoolchildren who were rated by their peers as the

most aggressive in the classroom tended to have parents

who frequently used corporal punishent.:-.When samples of

delinquent and crimin:al'sUbiets are investigated, the '1

findings are sicklier. - Climeitl- Rollins, Ervin, and Plutchik

('1973) found five nonmedical variables associated with

viblence, one of which4was severe parental punishment.

Even more convincing is tarecent work orLangner, Gersten,

and Eisenberg (1976) , who found thatpuhitive.parenting-(the.

use of.a stick or belt, and the fiequent withholding of .

privileges) was the most'powerful.derived iredictdr, and

that the behavior it piedicted best was'antisocial conduct.

The behavioristic psychologist A.Bandura in 1962 sketched

out the learning principles underlying the behavior of

Rusty, a delinquent- youngster who had been raised on the1

strap. Bandura's work pointid out how pain-avoidance con-

tingencies produced running -away behavior, and how his

parents' attempts to suppress RusVy'ss aggressive behavior

thiough severe punis' nt served only as a model "ways

to counteraggress toward them.

The crosscultural.studies are equally impressive.

rw...

3,

"Twelve investigators (see whiting, 1963) carefully studied

six cultures and found a..

strong relationship. between punitive,A... .,

.

restrict4ve child-rearing and cultural aggression. For

- 1507 -

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example, the Nyinporgo oz' Africa used"' fear, threats, and

physical punishment to socialize theit children, and

hamoCidep. rape, and assault were common in theirs culture.. 4

"In contrast, the Taira o; bkinawa primarily-used denial of

withdrawal of love; their crime rata was low, and respect

for the police, law, and order was high.

. When Bolton (1971a) reported that hypoglycemia was

` ,-rtrobably the most'significant factor contributing- to the

highlevel of aggression in the -Qolla Indians of Peru, -I

wrote to him and he confirmed my suspici'ons. that the Qolla

were extremely aggressive parents (BoltOn, 1971b). O'Ranlon

(1975, pp» 206-'244, himself an Irish Catholic, su4404ts

that the =extremely violeit.acts committed by members of 'the

Irish Repulican Rimy is Northern Ireland are a natural410.

product of the, brutal, child - rearing practic'd of the pbop,.-

tense, distressed, and unhappy.Irish Catholic mothers and

fethees.

. Of growing interest is thetwork of those studying the

physiologital. chara4eristrics Of violent 'or- .aggressive people.

Moyer (1974) hai gathered impressive evidence that ihelhale

of the species, whethek hamster 9r human, is the' more aggres-

sive sex. The data strongly implicate the androgens. This

is, of course, consistentwith the crime statistics gathered

over the years, where males dominate the scene. Nevertheless,

Moyer (19731 freely admits that the aggressive threshold of an

animal taxi be altered by external events, particularly stresi.

- iso01

I4,

4'

In facitivt points out that pessible inherited'

tendencies for hostil'ty can be even more readily and.

intensely aroused if the organism is forced to live.in a

deOrived; fruitrating, and stressful enviromient (1975).

I submit that the strap clearly qualifies aS,a. cause of

stress.

. Another ague of'research which may be closely

4related to the corporal punishment issuit.although this

lick has yet to be established, _involves the.cenditionabirity

of delinquents and psychopaths.4 We know that adult psycho-,

paths and delinquents ochaition poorly,(Eare, 1965, i968,

Lykken, 1955,.1957; Fellks, 1961), but the reason remains

Obscure. Syseack, (1964) hai argued that the psychopath:

-...8

-Lis -4 seurotic__extrovert:whose_poo; conditionability isprobably an innate personality trait. The psychopath's

impulsivity, insensitivity to others,, .lack of moral values,

and fiiluxe to profit'from past exPirience or to respond .

fiverablk to psychotherapy is well known CO those of 'us who

have worked with such subjects: However, Schachtli. and

Latante (1964), Schlichter and Ratliff (1971) and Ears (1966)

have all Shown that the psychopath is particularly poor in .

.

learning pain-ivoidance tasks, but learns adeqUately with

reward. This suggests the possibility that the psychopath

4Most investigators differentiate between ordinary, offendecs_,..,-psychopaths,4generally using the definition of psychopath,first suggested by Cleckley (1964) and Later' extended byRare (L970). However, there is data to suggest thatlatleast at the cognitive level, the psychopath is probablyat an extreme of continuumoof emotional insensitivity(see Widom, 1976).

- 15091. .' ti

.4

'

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s.

.

° has either adapted to or discovered same. way to ignore

'and puqishment. is fact,Eare (1974) reports that physic- 411,

logica measures of autonomiclreactivity suggest that the

psychopath does not seem to have a normalanticipitoy'Emar

.response. Eire suggests that the psychopath is unusually

adept at *adulating aviriv e cue's -which, in turn; reduces-

the emotional ifpact of a situation. Hard writes 497.4):

The picture of Psychopathy, that emerges,. there-fore, is of a aisorder which there is, ready.activ-ation of psychophysioiogical defense mechanismswhen aversive stimulation is threatened or antiCi7

".zpated. 9)

61w.*

ay.

- Zykken (1967) hiS also noticed this insensitivity, labeling_

the proCe s.nn4ative perception.".

s.

Our data are quite)S4mrregarding the punitive child-.,

hoods of virtually all delinquents. Since a child", no mattealk1111.

how harshly triaitad, is forced to rely almost totally upon '

his Or her parents for food, shelter, and, whatever security

_they might provide, it Would seem only adaptive for 'that

gild to learn to ignore the parental mistreatment.

. In a different, but related, line of reseakcli, Widom

(1976) reports that psychopaths consistenly report less,

emotional impact than do normals when asked to visualize a

number of anxiety - producing or embarrassing situations.

. Again, the behavioral pattern of the psychopath is of an

indiiiidual who emotionally perceives the orld differently

than do most of us. It is not surprising that psychopaths,

with their blunted emotional response systems, tend to .be

Ism -

o 1

c

stimuius-seekersirisley & Sewell,. 1976). Thit such

blunting can be produced by severe parenting is certainly

possible.

Row Cameral Punishment Affect.f the Schooli:

AIMI

?Airing a symposium /debate en school spanking -I recently..

ebiisAd at the annual convention cf the American Psychological

Association (Welsh,- 1976b), several pertinent points were'

made, bothpro and con. Dean Westmoreland",prei4dent of the

North Cirolina Association of Educators and a supporter of.

School corporal. punishment, likened the teachers to buck,,

'private, on the front lime, arguing:.,

..:.And like war, sometimes it can be hell....The abolition oft corporal punishment has notreduced violence in sate of the scheOls in'

. the &art*, no matter "what you say. 14 fact, 4rbelieve that it has probably increased. (p.54)

Another supporter, Lansing Reinhelz, iuperintendy

of.the Burlington, Ver mont, public schools, remarked:,

Spiak to.any clAs troom teacher and ask him yhtthe she is theii-for, and he/She won't say'helshe'sthere to discipline childrinp hi/she will tellyou everime he/she's there to teaoh....-"Ne'ietalking abiout'the'hard-core disciOlimelproblemsin the.:school, year after year. ',(W4$n) everysingle-techniqueiavailable-to a classrodin'teachtn

At and the principal has. been used, what doieildo111, with that kid nowl,...1t!s a hell of a lot better.

alternative to try corporal puniihment than sending.him/her out on the street....4 ,Re/she is not going.to contribute anything to sac tty once he/she is a

out of school: And, if the ternative is whackinghim/her en the' fanny'once twice and it helps,it's a hell of atlot better than sending him/herdown the road. (p. 47).

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MEP

.1.1, MEM

'

lift". Kenneth Newbold, superintendent of 'he North

S .

__.

Carolina's Scotland County Schools, said: !II.

.

...I think it other-forms of discipline can beshown superior to corporal punishment, then I'think rational thinking people would support' it.'being,outlawed. Rut, at this point in time, it. 4

is basiOally an effective deterrent. I do notwatt to see knives abolished because.mourgeonhappens to slip Up and misuse that knife in an ' .

operation. I do not want to see food abolished .

because, some people misuse. food by the over-eating Of food. Corporal punishment is a ., 1,_µ

deterrent. (pp.Aa-49) ..

Dr. Gertiude Williams, Diplpmete in ClinicaVizsychologyA'

and Editor .of the eliaieacl,

summed up the position,of herself and the ,other three

.anticorPoxal punishment advocates on the panel:.

...Psychologists, pediatricians, surgeons,radiologists, and psychiatrists have documented.injury to children who were beaten in the publicschools.... And, the schools are not presentingan example of peacefulness to the new generationcoming up. Corpokal punishment,is not discipline.It is'a lack of discipline. Numerdus stud4.esindicate that it is the moatidadequately trainedteacheri who use violence. ,Advocatesof corpdralpunishment-iay they have no-discipline problemsin their schools, and I bet they don't. What youhaie in your North Carolina classroom isn'tdiscipline or respect, but seething hatred, terror,helplessness, and, oh; so often,psychic numbing....

Corporal punishment and, child abuse are on the samecontinuum, namely, violence.."..

Mostabusive parents and teachers don't plan to abusetheir children. They start out to "discipline ". themphysically, or use corporal punishment, and then theviolence ..atensifies. ...No one starts out beingan abuser. It just escalates....

Outlawing"corporal punishment, the (U. S. SupremeCourt) says, "bucks a settled tradition of counten-ancing such punishment when reasonable." Get a loadof that!... If a court can remove a child from.his

.

2t2

4

4

ft

parent because of battering, how can they hand that'ch4d over to the schOol. for Abuse?...

..

r Now, the irrationalities: Violence against childrenby parents and teachers is discipline: 'violence.against parents andteachers by children is Assault.A teacher's lack of discipline is called discipline;a child who strikes a teacher creates disorder;,ateacher who strikes a_child creates order in theclassroom. War is peace, peace is war -1984; double -talk and violence are alive and well in this country..4pp. 56460) It

.

.

. .

' - During_ the' debate, it was painfully obvious- to me that4

the pgocorporal punishment advocitei were not acqUainted-

with my own data. 'Wheneveel: patient is refered by the

school for aggressive acting put, I am now sure that the

child has a history of aggressive parenting. A 15-year-old

boy referred to me :r#/cently after choking two pupils with

a piece of rope was the product of a belt-wielding father

Who drinks excessively and continually accuses his fearful

wife of infidelity. A 14zyear-old boy, involved in setting

fires in school, Y found to have been repeatedly beaten up

with the fists by his well-educated,' professional father,

who also batters his mother:' A 13-year-old girl who broke

the.finger of a policeman during a school riot told me how

her mother useeto whip her with aneextension cord until the

mother was too exhausted' to hit any more.

Two vandals were apprehended after inflicting $,/,200

damage on a local elementary school; both vereo.11y'10:years

of age. I suggested that the superintendent watch for signs

of abusillo= these youngsters, and, as predicted, the following

day one of them shuffled into the classroom black and Wale;

1513 23

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w

7

7,

ti i's:v:1-tit

A number of other interesting treads have been suggestedL 4 . ."

by our studies, although the following are generalizations ill

band still tentatiVel . .

-

.

Girls are beaten less than boys, probably because they,

tens to elicit less parental iggressiOn, but. mothers'tend

to beat daughters, and fathers tend to iseat sons.

The uptight, authbritarian fathers with his'sexual

. inhibitions, tendsJto shy away from hitting a girl in a

dress, but not one in jeans. My guesA is that resin ''changes

in female dress habits may result in girl being increasingly

exposed to brutalizing abuse. by their fathers. This ray --

cyntribtte to the current rise in crimes committed by females.

(Mothers seem never to have had -these inhibitions about

hitting their daughters.) .

. 'It seems that a girl has to be hit harder and longer

before she becomes as aggressive as the average beaten boy...

and frequently the more a girl .is beaten the more,pastive.

she becomes,,' although she may try tc escape by running away

from her tormentors and thus end up in the juvenile court:

Puerto Ricans usually strap the legs; one Puerto Rican.'

social worker feels'that this May be because of beliefs

about the sanctity of the body.

The primary tool of discipline in the' United States

(excluding the open hand) is thetelt, followed by.the fist,

the exttasion cord, the wooden paddle, and then by various

. .other tools; these tend, to be used at random, and _include1

241514 w

-

I x-Adig coathahgers, bullwhipse.belt

bucket, lead pipes, and a whole: host V weapons that I

Could scarcely have imagined priorto my studies. Mothers

uie a wider ax.i.ety of disciplinary tools than tathert* and

frequently mme, tools of the housewifely trade (spatulas,

0wooden spoons, and brooms);fathers. usually limit their

.

weapons to fists addbelts.

School perionatmei appear tbe handy, andprefei

paddles and: straps. These are somehow viewed. at .miore-:''

humane than the haideand they certainly help the.teacherr

to feel removed fiam the act of abuse: One school system .

I am familiar with hies a supply of automobile fan belts.

Large paddles* with air hole; to cut down wind resistance,

axe a favorite, and the childien often must make them in

shcip class.

Children in the lower graaes ase hit the most. ,Black-

,

schools .with Black teachers utilize the most corporal

punishment. iTien find corporal punishment being used in

a Northern school, the' school usual* has a.high minority

.population. .Schoolsin the Southeattern and Southwestern

United States are the most 'supportive of the Supreme Court

spanking rules. Possibly coincidentally, the PBX Uniform

Crime Statistics for years have shown that the Deep South

is the most violent section of this country. The state of

korth Cardlina, whose teachers vigorously support the .

Supreme CouSt spanking rulintig an. outgrowth of an incident

', .

153.52]4

...m.o. ':-.1P

1

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alb

in that state), in 1973 led the nation in incidences of

assault and was eighth in murder and tenth in all violfie

crime. It now has more people ondeath row thin any other'

state. In fairness, however,'I mustpointout that'it

, .. . . .f . . .

. .

was relatively, low in overall crime.. 4

4

1, .

, Counseling the Aggressive Child and' Nis Family'

Children who exhibited aggressive behavior in the

school, who have threatened other students or attempted to

extort money from other' children, or who have in amme-way4. s. t :

acted but in the community ilearly need help--but to do

their parents. If the child is unmet 12, he is probably

still getting strapped by mom and dad. My data indicate .

4

that, after that age, the child is 'usually "too big" to

Ahit and the home has become a battleground.S.

1

-51n ,a study. (Welsh, 1976a) of 56.tdelinquent Wales Olean age 4-

14,.5 years) and 19 delinquent fhaales (mean age 14.75 years)ithe mean age at which severe parental punishment terminatedamong those boys who had been but were no longer being' hitwas 12.37. Two boys had never been severely punished.

. Eowever, 18 of the 58 boys were still being iii. t with belt,board, extension cord, fist, or the like. It was suggestedrecently that I.analyze this data for the girls, on the-`ground thatgirls are physically less able' to'fight back,.As was suspected, df the 19 girls in the sample, only'3-*.

.,

'toms no longer being severely punished, butt' 1 still were,and the remainder never had been. That is, 58 percent ofthe girls but only 31 percent of the boys were still beingsubjected to severe physical parenting at the time of mystudy, even though proportionately fewer girls thad boyshad been exposed to severe physical parenting during theirlifetimes. Consittent*with this, is the occasional discovery,in my clinical practice, of a mentally retarded adult whois still -being disciplined with a belt. Apparently in thehome as in school,- thd more. defenseless a persca is, thelonger,that person 4.s li.keLZ to be it by his or her zarents...The battered woman would seem to be another example or this 40pattern.- .c 26 . .,

, :, ,,:by - 1516 -- ,

40.I.

. s.- . .. .

4°.

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. ben the school refer* a child for counseling, emphasis___:

r4;

should be on family counseling, rattier than on individual . N-I

treatment. rhe.procedure should be one a.tmedst developing aA N

,.. : posi*A.vi:relationship between parent and child. This.rela-0 .

tionship has usually detesioiated to an extremely hostile 4.. ,

. - .

level hythe time of the referral.- Effort has to be directedt

toward the building'cf a feelingof trust between the child

and the parents. Above all, the parent yhd exhibits autpor-. .

-. ,

itarian at titudes (usually-oni .parent, sometimes both).needsItg

to learn hove Ito express hurt and upset the child's mix-c'' ' M -.

Y

behavior, rather:than reacting with anger and retaliation. t..,.. . t

. ,

Re or she must be shown that this change.isi atth_tude reduces

the.anger in the child which fuell aggression: i'areits who

have a positiye relationship with their child Maintain_

control essentially thrOugh the child's, desire to please

,them and to keep their Love; The parentwhp attempts to

control the child through threats and coercion challenges'

tha child to seg how much he or she can. get awii-4Ati:"'Vtile

truly brutal parent causescthe child to feel of little

ti

_personal value, consistent with the parental message seemingly'

conveyed. Such a child may try to embarrass the parents

or get even with theta by deliberate self-i6flicted harm..

Many years.bf punishment, as the conditionability studies

have indicated, may reduce a child to a remarkable degree

of insensitivity to punishment and an inability 'to learn

from it.

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It the child is young, 'and is still being hit, screamed

at, and threatened, ihe.parent needs to be told rather'disec*

4. em

to. stop. But the parent should never be. left hanging nor

made to feel guilty. The counsefor should be aware of, the

.fact that punitive parents have learned this behavior from

their own patents (see Welsh, 1975) and that they assume

that what 'was`good for them is good for their children.

After all, most oWidisciplined children do not become

delinquents. When the beaten child ttuddealy,stops getting

. the strap, he or she will.ginerally exhibit a preSsuri-

cooker effect which will subside in apprimeiely two or

three weeks. The parent must be told this in advance,' or

the parent will return to.the old, punitive behaviorisattern

and reject all of the counselor's advice. Stopping the

punishmen:tis frequently difficult,'espicially if a grand7

parent is around urging the 1,%.'47.er or.father to hit the kid

more,and'to qtop being a permissiv,e patent."' A careful

Orogram built on positive reinforcement should .be sketched

out for the parent, and the parent must begiven liberal

positive reinforcement by the counselor for the improvement. .

he or she makes. The guidance department of the school can

be very helpful in supporting some of the measures instituted

in the home, and the therapist should be a person who is

comfortable working with the school.

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Zs the Tough Ghetto SchOol a Special Case7.

Foster (1974), who taught in the worst and toughest

-ghetto schools in New York City, still believesthat corporal

punishment is not the answer. roster has experienced par-

-sonally the many games and teachertesting.aeviCes whitif are

used by streetwise, working -class and welfafi-class youngsters,F

and which clearly Lker-tare with the learning, process. Re: -

points out that the white, middle class teacher may take on,

the job with idealism and-warmhearted:- optimise, but is

equipped, to deal with the c4ren of the inner-city .school.

In contrast to {the teacher's protected, childhood, the tough

streetcorner kid hasexperieuced the home life typiCal of

very poor families, where discipline is harsh, where ridicule

is frequent, and where punishment is based simply upon

whether he be4aviorbothers the parents., As Poster_ puts: -it:

Re was"controiled largely physically and therewas limited verbal communication within thefamily. Theie was little acceptance of him asan individual. He was most often reared throughauthoritarian methods., His mother usually ran.the house, and when the father was home, he wasprimarily a punitive figure. (p. 239)

r.

for Using Corporall,unishment?.

With low self-esteem and a'ense of defeat, the ghetto,

boy learns he must outhustle or 'outaggress the other guy,

all the time. Every day he fees another test of his machismo

and toughness.

Foster believes that despite their protests to the con-

trary, many yachers are afraid of their students. N teacher's

- 1519 -

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fear emboldens the child, causing even more acting out.' .

Foster is convinced that as many as 80 percent of teachers

who remain in the innercty schools fixate on discipline,

staying constantly on guard, never. trusting, never expressing -

any positive feelings, and subjecting thei 'students to

meaningless busywork.

. Foster has described a n r of techniques for keeping

ones cool, btrestresies that a ghetto. teacher can only-

succeed by conveying to the stu ents, without hurtiig them- . .

emotionally or physically,-that teachers are mature adults

who-demand to be treated as such. Headmits that he has

not completely solved the problem og dealing with the student%

who habitually, tests the teacher under the implacable laws

of the street. Ee has found that a physical encounter (e.g.,

squeezing a pressure point'on the arm that is blocking the

teacher from entering a cl.assrotb,M) may sometrthe necessary

to' earn the respect-of a particularly difficult youngster,

but that, on the other hand, -some of the most "feminihei"

frail; unassuming teachers. are the most successful with

an angry, macho youth. One rule of thumb appears to be. s

common t9 tha teacher in a. tough ghetto school and the.

therapist working with violent offenders: learn not to be

threatened, and be calmly respectful.

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w.ewe&4+dire dal,

4 Whet.are the Alternatives(.4

to_Punishment in the Schools?

Perhaps the leading' proponent. of nonpunitive school

discipline today.is Dr. William Glasser, a psychiatrist.

turned educatorpwhose technique for dealing with behavior

. problems in the schools has gained national recognition

(see Glasser, 1969, 1971) . Glasser's disciplinary. .philosdphy '

consists of seen steps:

1. The teacher gets personally involved with studehts.-r

. 2 ,Se or she deals only with the presents and avoids

bringing upT;ast indiscretions.

3. Se or sOe works toward ,getting the student to-make

a value j4dgment about the behavior.

4. Re or she works toward getting the student =links

a plan to. change that behavior.

S. The student, now-with a plan, makes a, commitment

to change, sometimes -with a handshake,but preferably is writ3ng.

.

6. The teacher never inflicts punishmeii an the student.

%HA or she keeps dealing with the student positiVely anti]:

-there is a change in.behavior; and the teacher. never runs11

out of alternatives.

Glasser believes that..school violence and crime result

when young people areailing in important areas of their.

lives. He feels that the seemingly bright youngster 'with

a good home background can survive even the most meaningless

'11

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school tfiSksts bit that the inner -city chi who may be

equally-bright,7is defeated.bit.them. "He is convinced that -111. ...

. be whole punitive structure of the schools heeds to be

reworked (Youth in Rebellion," 3.910).

Glasser has taken a fiim stand against, corporal pun-.

ishment btsChool-personnel., arguing that it will keep

people in line only if it is done.hard.ehough but that

...it Sure Won't encourage many .kids to do much learning!:.

(Mirphy,,A.973). Further, he points out .that the ones who" .

t punished are the:losers, not the children heading for.

,.

Harvard, observing, "The 16-seis are being kept'in line in. .. . .

. .-school beCause the community dOese4 want "them out of school

and. on the streets' (Murphy, 1973).

McIntire (197$), a behaviorist, insists that to.po:4 Ai'

parents punisbment is a dangerous practice more relatdd to

the frustrations and mood, of the parent than to the behavior

of the child. His lei= alternatives taccorporal punishment,

?

are: 4

1. Ignoring bad behavior, "then praising good behavior..

2. Using time-out proceduri: placing the child in

a' room for a short-peripd of time until the behavior is

under control. .4

.3. The Response cl,st approach: the child is reqUired

to,do something that 'costs" more, in terms of energy_or1

inconvenience, than does the unwanted behavior, e.g., the

parent might, show little', anger. at a refusal to go-to school,4

- 1522 -32

4.0

but imModiately put the child,v: work.cleaning the house

ddring the time school is in session.-

4. OverCorrection: a situation is arranged where

t4 .child suffers the consequences of the misbehavior; e.g.,-

the child might be asked to practice an unWanted behaVicii,. I

such as haddclapping following elccessive hamdclappings

La,

fatigued.' *

All Of the above procedures can be used by the-teacher

implicit of thejfrequently destructive punishment techniques.

They may require more'thinkiiig andplaqning, but the outcome

is usually'more rewaraing:than'Is that of punishmeht. .Over--

cortaCtion can be dramatically effective, and.I have used

his procedure -in the treatment of juvenile firesetting

behavior (Welsh, 197_1),, Unfortunately, this. technique is

Useful Only with very young children. -

:Perhapsof most importance is that parents and teachers.

learn the difference between withholding rewards'and.taking .

. away privileges. The behavior controller who wants to main-

tain a good relationship with theclients should always

.think positively.6 Thane- is a big difference between.saying

to a class, "If you don't 'get your work' done you are going

to miss recess," and telling them, "When you get your work

done, you can go to recess." The first approach is

6An excellent summary, of alternatives to corporal punishment---and-other-eversive-proceduresiin the schools is available-

it thi September, 1973, issue of Scholastic Teacher, Jr./Sr.High School Teachers edition, pp. 21-27.

- 1523 -33t.

=1.m.M. $ .1 46 ewe

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authoritarian and threatening. The second is positive, makes.

410the reward contingent upon the desired act, and places the . -

responsibility on the children. Parents who maintain a dis-

trustful.; tiOt control.over their children well into their

teen years:should not expect particularly adult, responsible

behavior from them when they move out of the parents' home'

%And into lives of their cc/in. The most such parents should ,

- expect is conformity to the demAnds of others) at worst,

openly antisocial behavior.

Do the Schtiols Ciuse Violence?

O

Slade the prime shaper of human behavior'is the hoie,

it is highly doubtful that the schools directly contribute

to our high rate of` violent crime in a major way. In fact, 0

over the short run, a greater.factor in the, high rate of

homicide and other violent crimes is probably the easy,

availability of firearms (MUnfoid, Kezar, Feldman, st"Stiviis,

976). This does not mean that the schools do not have a'

major responSibility for setting good examples for our"

children, and for actively avoiding the exacerbatioh of

situations already near the flash point. Wien a school

principal uses the strap, the student j.s demeined. In

addition, the principal serves as an aggressive model for

many people in the community, especially for the poor

and the unsophisticated who may be overly impressed by

ptofessional status. As one uneducated Black mother put It,

34-'15x4 .=

4,

*Sure I beats 7),:ekids; it the principal in our schoolthoUght .

that beating was good for,chillans, beatins,must be good for

them. Eels got a whole lotta education; he oughts know,!,

since-our data Show that authoritarian and punitive

attitudes in parents. provide fuel that.leeAs antisocial coa-. .

. .

duct, it seems partidularly unwise to use threats and physical

punishment, on aggressive, children; yet this.. is the very

group.ofiyoungsters is our society who are the most punished

of all. taladt,'the majority'sf one particularly roubling

group of student, the potential -dropouts, suff4 from

budding-Character Alsorders according, to Liehterp Hapiei,

Seibert, and Sklanaky i1962). They implore the schools to

stop threatening these youngsters. Pointing out that the .-

threats seldom work. They show that the fearful Child feels

worthless and inIffectual and the rebellious child feels

dhallenged and goaded by threats. Further,. since the threats

are seldom carried out, with any consistency, they serve to. .

undermine respect for school authority among the threatened_ _

.

youMgsters and observing classmates (Liehtlea, et al., 1962,

p. 175).

Woodman (1976) ii-presenting the observations of William

May` nard, a Seattle high school. principal, reported that

schools with rigid structures and strict enforcement Of rules

regarding dress, attendance, and behavior ten d to have degrees

of racial tension and high suspension and dropout rates.

This is consistent with the findings Liehter, et al. (1962)

33p- 1525

;4244

eihowing that a rather positive shift

1-.mihen the angry dropout leaves school

°'; can be very aversive and frustrating46:t

11%4 ..youth already primed for violence by

e-

4

o *

l c

,Y,4,et

6

and 'conflict. When such a student comes up against the.

authoritarianism of the "rule-by-force' administrata2,7

ilraiatudes may occur

4patently.the school",

for an angry, impulsiVe

intrafamily punishment

'- 141".. - I

neitheriarty is likely to win.,.

Although it mule appear that the home ii the'primary

lourca of a child's anger, at /fast one study suggests a

A44,111q. link

ort1and

between school vandalism-atd school

Oregon, community completed in 1975,

''Wing 12 ,school districts, found a high correlation-

. .. -.;,,, .

:4': betWeen.. .

. ;,,,,,, . .

1. a12311446"ms of dalism in that district (Maurer,f157512).%

,ip addition to carporal punishment, other punitive4 .

.

tmectices-enga4ed in by the schools seem destructive or, at

e use of caporal punishment is a schoodistrict

best, counterproductive. Levine and Grariado (1972)-'have

surveyed the literature on nonpromotionbackas far as 1908.

They estimate that as many as 20 perdent of all children in

the lower grades are held back, although there is. no evidence %

that thispractice accomplishes any of it stated goals and

much evidence that it may be terribly d4structive emotionally.

The practice of suspending a child for nonattendance is, of

7

.P

Adorn°, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson, and Sanford (1950)found that,, as a rule, the authoritarian person had beensubjected to harsh parental' discipline 'during his orherown childhood. Such individuals are often so rigid in their-_ett;tudes that a Board of Education wishing to liberalizeits schools' disciplinary policies might find itself stymiedakunless a few administrators are changed as; well. Igr.

j

;to2113- 1526

MI..

.141.

7.

cour0, irrational, often working as t4nforcement for school

avoidance. Probably even worse id the'common practice of repeat-- .

edly calling the distratight mother of an aggressive child' which.

often resultsip the child gaing a beating when he or she '

next walks inthe door. The.only alternative to these pracr

tices. a 'posit-lye school 'discipline code, free from 14.n-

dictiveness and punishment.

The School as a..Part of the Community'',

and Whet kMight Do .

.I.:

School crime is clearly a reflection of the Fime. . -,;,.

, :N,u,

! probl em affecting all of society and is, from our own' data .'. N

1 4 4

due primarily to factors ekiiting'in the hots. While .''.

poverty, alcoholism, broken homes, and racism all contribute

I

to crime, I'contend that they do so only to the extent that,1- .

theta faitors impel parents to physically' anipsychologic4li..

-N4,

batter their children. Parents who, respect the humanity 43141:

the rights of their children do not produce delinquents.

Alcohol is a'well-known releaser of aggreision, and parents

(mostly fathers) are frequently,suoportive and. kindly when sober,

but ornery and paranoid when diunk.1

Broken homes are some-

times ebaromelor of parental aggression, since_angry eople

often find it impossible to live with each 'other.. 'Racism

is often rampant in families where children are.hrutilizad,

and poverty frustrates angry parents' inducing them to hit

°See Maurer, 1974, for anexhaustive bibliography and dis-cussion of the corporal punishment issue:'

i52737

V.) .. . /agan0 ,

V ...N.* .m.....11. 16. ........ 4= aoaalaw. .0aima ..... - a. ...-aamma ..b. ...gra aas anaamsa aaa a 0 a ..... emm I 1,1= e-

. J. , \their children harder and more often than they normally-

.

would (Adorn et al,,1950):

Although all. of society should develop an attitude:-

eandemming"4orporil punishment, as'Langner recommended (see0

Trotter, 1916) aftei finding that punitive parenting _was, the

best, of his, derived measures for predicting antisocial be-I

haviorp'the schools can make at least a beginning...

The following would seem to be some of the priorities

fosea communitvisehool.programto deal with acting -out youths

1. The schools must become mare humane. This means

that the practice of corporal-punishment mast end. The1972

WA plan for the abolition of corporal punishment in.the

nation's schobls should be instituted..

2. Schools should move toward more positive approacheiih..

to discipline, those which emphasise. values and the rights111!

of others rather than authoritarian control. The "force"

approach is sell-defeating. Children learn responsible

behavior much faster when they are given responsibility and

-trust than they, do when threatened or oppressed. Zn even the.

*toughest" schoole there are many alternatives to'corporil

punishment. In fact, even the staunchest advocites of

corporal punishment avoid striking the larger and more

menacing students.

. 3.. Training-for-parenthood programs,should be insti-.

tuted more widely in the schools. 'Much relevant material is

availablethroish HEW.33

.

. . .,f

411- 1528 -

J .

'i

a Ioa. ..

4. An adequate number of well - trained sckool guidance:'

personnel should be available in the schools, as should staff

trained to gp into problem homes. ton! waiting iists for

service should be discouraged. A school system-can save on

guidanCe personnel. by developing good wdrking relationships

with outside mental health clinics and with private practi-

tioners. The schoCls do 4ot have to be all things to all.

people, but neither shoUld they shirk their responsibilities

for their students' mental health.

5. Polidi need to be better trained., Studies.show

(See Locke & Smith,,1970) that police.Who have attende

college are less authoritarian in their attitudes than those

who have'not.' Officers should knbw better than to tell

parents of delinquents to go home and beat their kids,, or to

roar up, clubs drawn, to a small-scale schoolyard fight,

tliereby fanning it into a fullscale riot, as has happened

recently.

6. Many professionals, including policemen, teachers,- .

school administrators, social workers,, psychologists, and

psychiatrists, need*training to recognize and acceptalma-.

lationship between severe parenting and aggressive behavior

in children. Reacting to a comment of mine regarding the.

relationship between delinquency and severe patenting reported 1.

by a nationally syndicated columnist, Sergeant Lester Wilson,

Supervisor of the St. Louis Cou4y Police Department's

Bureau of Juvenile Affairs, reported that the child of what

he describes as a "superpermissive mother" had been picked

- 1529 - 39 .be /. ,., , Am. om gm -few. ew ., ...,

-

up-for burglary. The child had been left alone in the poly-Aft

graph room, and%"...damn near destroyed the polygraph....gis.W-

*other comes in and she says', 'Are you sure_ he did it?' "

i

Milks, 1977). What Sergeant Wisdom ,did not see was'the

beating that child. probably received when he got acme. Seat- .

ings,.like sex, occur behind. closed ,donors . -Miny of, the mist.

punitiye.parents of my.most aggressive delinquent patients.

are the neighborhood .good guys, the people.who-can alwaymr-be0.

counted'on to voldhteex.for by commnnitytcauses, the' ones

about whom others reflexively say, Me, wOu1d never beat his

kid's:" They are the proverbial straight-:ardow types. 'The,..N

.

abusing parents of delinqtent2children are usually%not 'bad

. peovii.e--only misguided. ,I.have toldlpsychiatzists, nurses,

social workers, dentists,'college professors, and millionairli,

to, stop using the strap on their childien,eVel before they .

' .

had admitted doing so, add T have seldom been wrong.0

Dealing with crime is a community problem, but 'preventing

crime is a parental responsibility.

The school, whicheis part Of the community but which.

functions at times in loco de:antis, muit therefore accept a_.

dual responsibility. At the least, it should never contribute

to the problem by hitting children or crushing their self-

esteem. -Ideally, it can be a posi.tiv, model that system-.

atically rewards all good behaitior and sets an example of

reasoned, nonviolent ways to deal with those who habitually

_ misbehave. A

40-1530- .1

t

A

e

ti

V

SUZEMP'arV

This piper has attempted briefly to.sketch out the-

historical roots of corporal punishment in the United States,

bow it became a part of our school tradition, and why,

dispite'the over4belming evidence that it is a practice

inimical to the more positive goals of education, it persiits

in millions of homes and in thousands ofbschools. Using the

data anjuvenile delinTients which I have gathered over

0

--eight-yRar period .and the data 'of others, I have tried to show .

that the corporal'punishment practices of parents are highly

relatedto the aggression level of their children. Further,

corporal punishment may well produce '.a person who is not

only angry, but physiologically tuned of tb emotionally

arousing stimuli, making-it difficult for that person to

anticipate and thus avoid ;Iunishment situations.

From my dim studies, which gave rise to my "belt theory"

of juvenile delinquency, and from the work of others,. I am

led to the following conclusions:

1. The level of reported aggressive behavior, partic-

ularly in males, is a funCtion at the severity of their .

corporal punishment histories..

2. Severity of corporal punishment in, the home is more :

impprtant than socioeconomic class as a precursok to

delinquency. 1,

3. Corporal punishment produces both fear and anger;

when thefear is habituated, the anger is left ix the fo;efront.

- 1531 - 41 t

. e .

m ......o. ................e...... ' ......,........ a... M .me

1

4. The more aggressive a culture,. the more probable

that corporal punishment will be the chief stcialization

technique.(,

S. Since this effect of corporal punishient is no

respecter of groups, race/ or social class, so- called normal

parents will produce aggressive, children Proportional to

their use of corporal punishment and its severity.

6. Parents of aelinquents are contxry to'pdpular

opinion, "hard - liners' on discipline rather tfian_overpee.

missive. They are, however, often neglectful; permissiveness

and neglect are not the `same. . .7. The well-documented differences in conditionability

between delinquents and normals are probably due to the

habituation of iear, which reduces the delinquent's ability"40

to rely on anticipatory' fear responses and'to avoid poten-.

tially delinquent situations, It it speculated that this

process of habituation, or "negative perception," ifdue

primarily to the delin enes early exposure to severe

i

.

parenting.

8. The use of corporal punishment in the schools is

at the very least demeaning, and school avoidance, .schodl

vandalism, and tragedy,hae resulted from its use.

9. Poverty appears to be a major feature of,the

families of delinquents. 'However, poverty. probably produces

crime indirectly, apparentlyengendering severe frustration

which acts as a catalyst for aggressive parenting. Tkh

aggressive parenting itself zppeais td be the primary4

42 .

4.

t

environmental factor fueling.delinqueit aggression.

Evidence suggests that the disproportionately high crime ..

rate among Slack; and Puerto Ricans is related toleirned

parental disciplinary practices, and not to any inborn

/aggressive propeniities.

10. School crime i,s primarily a esult of factors

existing in the home, but school policies and practice; can

exacerbate the problem and can -cause an any youth to

directs his or her aggression toward the educatiOnal

establishmeAL

11. Alternatives to corporal punishment 4/mist. These.

do lot demean students, and they. provide a school'atmos-

phere far more conducive to,learning.

The above propositions must be investigated further,

but the weight of existing evidence indicatei that corporal

punishment should be banished, once and for all, from the

educational system of the United States.

4

00.0 .441,=1141.44:0414111=4.

43t..

1333 7

...Ma a .01.....

A

4T

r

.

t,

me,

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.*.gft

1

4 9

- 1539 -6 du

-